Schools net £100 prize for internet safety skills

TWO Pembrokeshire Schools have proved they can play it safe while exploring online.

Neyland Community School and Saundersfoot Primary School have both won £100 to spend on IT equipment for their entries in Pembrokeshire County Council’s ‘safer internet day’ competition.

The competition invited schools to explain what they have been doing to promote internet safety.

In Neyland Community School, each class elected an e-Safety Champions who then designed a poster for their classroom.

The Champions meet regularly and have made changes to the school’s behaviour policy to include cyber-bullying. They also offer support to other pupils with problems or worries about e-safety.

Deputy Headteacher Mrs Yvonne Jones said: “The e-Safety Champions have really made a difference in our school, as they raise awareness of e-safety issues throughout the whole school.

“We recognise that the internet is great for children of all ages to learn and interact with each other and the e-Safety Champions ensure that the internet is a safe environment for all our pupils.”

Children from Year 6 in Saundersfoot Primary School used their iPads to produce a short film about social networking, which was shown in assembly.

IT co-ordinator Jenny Morris said: “This film adds to the dialogue that all pupils are having within the school to promote e-safety and warn about the dangers of social networking.

“As new technologies emerge, our pupils love to get engaged in learning with these. Our Year 6 pupils are currently doing a lot of work on internet safety and decided to make this film as a fun way to inform the rest of the school about the potential dangers of social networking.”

Prize money was provided by the Healthy Schools and Pre Schools Scheme in the Hywel Dda Public Health Team.